Bills Beat Blog

Over the weekend, Jon Bon Jovi wrote an open letter to the fans through The Buffalo News to declare that he was committed to making sure the Bills stay successful in Buffalo. According to the newest report, the trust overseeing the sale of the franchise needs a little bit more than that.

According to John Kryk of The Toronto Sun, the Toronto-based group led by Bon Jovi have been permitted by the Bills to resubmit their initial nonbinding bid for the team, one that will likely be a bit higher than their original offer.

Citing sources with knowledge of the situation, Kryk reported that the group's first nonbinding bid submitted to the trust was actually rejected by Morgan Stanley, the financial firm selected to handle this stage of the sale. The new nonbinding bid will likely be between $1 billion and $1.1 billion.

In addition to the heightened bid the Toronto-based group, that also includes Larry Tanenbaum of Maple Leaf Sports Entertainment and Edward Rogers of Rogers Communication, must provide "greater assurances," that their plan is to keep the team in the Buffalo area for the longhaul.

According to Kryk, the bid is expected to be resubmitted by the end of Tuesday. If it is not, or if it is deemed to be below what the trust calls for in this part of the sale process, the trio's chances of successfully owning the franchise will be dead.

Both Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula and Donald Trump have each advanced to the next stage of the sale process, in which they will be vetted by both Morgan Stanely and the National Football League. According to reports, they are the only two to qualify for the next stage at this point in time.

The vetting will begin shortly after the finalists have been fully identified by the trust of Ralph Wilson, which could lead to the final, binding bids being due on or around the start of September. The current goal is to have a new owner picked and in place to be ratified by the upcoming owner's meeting on October 7 and 8.